Hazelnut Butter meets Dark Cocoa Powder
- 39 comments
- Posted in: Breakfast, Nut Butters, Snacks
Now that I’ve realized just how easy it is to make nut butter at home, I get the feeling that I will be experimenting with many flavors and combinations.
Already, my batch of Vanilla Almond Hazelnut is pretty much ancient history, so I thought I better get busy making a fresh batch before I completely run out.
‘Cuz seriously, no nut butter in the house? Now THAT would be a disaster!
This time I decided to leave the almonds out altogether and use exclusively hazelnuts. Toasted hazelnuts! Can you think of anything that tastes better than toasted hazelnuts?
Toasted hazelnuts AND chocolate, of course! Don’t worry, I’ve got that one covered… 
Now, to make your hazelnut butter really nice and creamy, you’ll want to remove the skins from the nuts, because they are kind of dry, tough and fibrous.
The best and easiest way to do that is to toast them in the oven on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a clean dish towel while they are still hot, wrap them up in a little bundle. Hold that package in one hand and, with the other hand, wiggle the nuts around so that they grind against each other.
Do that for a good minute or two, and when you open up your little bundle, all your nuts will be totally naked! Alright, a few of them might be more on the prude side and will desperately hang on to any piece of skin that they possibly can.
You can let them have their way… A little bit of skin has never killed anyone!
If you delicately push the nuts to the side and take a look at the bottom, you’ll see that there’s quite an impressive amount of skins that came loose.
Now all that’s left to do is remove all the hazelnuts, being careful as to leave all the skins behind, and this is what you are left with…
Imagine all that in your nut butter!!!
It would still be good, of course, but it wouldn’t be as creamy. The only thing that I am not too certain of is whether removing the skins also removes a lot of the nutrients from the nuts. If anyone has that information, please let me know!
Once the skins are gone, the hardest part is behind you. All that’s left to do now is process the nuts in your food processor until they turn into this beautiful, luscious, creamy and velvety Toasted Hazelnut Butter.
And if, like me, you are a Nutella lover crazed fanatic, you have to take this one step further and make the dark chocolate version.
Trust me, you won’t regret it. I mean, that stuff is G.O.O.D., as in absolutely insane good. It’s not Nutella, because to recreate that evil treat, one would probably need to use TONS of fat and sugar, but I am telling you, it’s just AS good, if not better.
Do yourself a favor and buy a big bag of hazelnuts today!
Oh, and you might want to consider making a double batch…
SUPER SMOOTH HAZELNUT BUTTER
(yelds 2 – 2½ cups)
INGREDIENTS
- 600g hazelnuts
INSTRUCTIONS
- Spread hazelnuts onto a baking sheet and roast in a 275F oven for 70-75 minutes.
- While they are still warm, transfer the nuts to a clean dish towel. Wrap the towel around the nuts to form a little bundle. Hold that bundle in one hand and, with the other hand, wiggle the nuts around so that they grind against each other. The friction will cause the skins to fall off the nuts.
- Transfer the nuts to the bowl of your food processor. Be careful to leave all the skins behind.
- Process the nuts until they turn into a creamy and velvety butter, about 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer to a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Mason jars work beautifully!
DARK CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT BUTTER
(yelds 1¼ – 1½ cups)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup hazelnut butter
- 2 tbsp extra dark cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp whole cane sugar*
- 1 pinch salt
- Splash pure vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add one cup of hazelnut butter to the bowl of your food processor.
- Add cocoa powder, cane sugar, salt and vanilla and process until well incorporated, about 30 seconds. You might want to scrape the sides once in the process to make sure the mix is well combined.
- Transfer to a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Mason jars work beautifully!
*Next time I will try using liquid honey instead. Sadly, I was all out this time, so I obviously couldn’t use it. I will be paying my yearly visit to the bee farm soon and will be stocking up big time to make sure I don’t run out again until next year.
Wm. Random Ward
Hey there, I’ve been following your blog for A LONG time now and I absolutely love it. I recently attempted making “Nutella” at home using lots of toasted hazelnuts and melted milk chocolate, however, I found that I could never get the hazelnuts processed to be as creamy as you have it here. I used a blender for my first experiment but will be using a small food processor now. Are there any tips or tricks you can provide for making the hazelnuts turn out creamier as a butter?
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Real happy to learn that you have been reading me for a while now! Thank you very much for that!
Using a food processor as opposed to a blender if a very good idea. Blenders are better suited to deal with liquid foods. Like I said, removing the skins really helps in achieving a smoother, creamier butter. And I think that processing the nuts while they are still warm also helps. Give that a try, and let me know how it went!
Tender B.
Looks awesome.
Nora @ natural noshing
Oh yes you did!!!!!! You’ve compelled me to want to lick the screen AGAIN! Wow what gorgeous butters– brilliant contrasting colors with the plain and chocolate versions
I have 9 (mostly eaten) homemade butters in the fridge currently…once I finish up one or so of the jars this one is my list!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Nora you are too kind! To have want to lick your screen is such an honor for me.
You better stop that, though, else I will feel obligated to send you a box of screen wipes…
And did you say NINE butters? OMG, I would be in heaven! I think I need to stock up on Mason jars… and pay your site a little visit.
Nora @ Natural Noshing
I haven’t come across one of your recipes that I didn’t drool over
You are a master in the kitchen and behind the camera! Haha, love your comment ab the screen wipes – totally laughed out loud on that one!!
I know, I’m a fanactic – two jars of almond-pumpkin seed, one plain almond, two plain PB (one creamy, one crunchy), one curried PB, one coconut butter, one sunflower seed butter and a jar of cacao artisana bliss…your hazelnut butter is next!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
The feeling is quite mutual Nora! I happen to really like your pictures and your recipes, too! Your pics always make me hungry and your recipes always inspire me. I think I could copy half of your blog to my Must Try List. INCLUDING your entire list of nut butters.
Anja @ AnjasFood4Thought
You seem to know all my weaknesses: Hazelnuts and chocolate, a combo that I cannot resist.
What food processor are you using, that makes nut butter in 5 minutes? I once made almond butter, and my poor food processor was grinding away for some 20-30 minutes before it got really creamy.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Anja, my food processor is a Kitchenaid, but one has to keep in mind that hazelnuts have a higher fat content than almonds, so they get to the creamy butter stage much quicker than almonds. It also takes my food processor a good 25-30 minutes to turn almonds into butter.
Anna
I don’t think I can ever say no to anything with hazelnut…Can you? This looks heaven!
Jill
I make homemade “nutella” all the time, but I’ve never thought of removing the skins. I’ll have to try that, and I’ll also have to try the Vanilla Almond Hazelnut spread because that sounds out of this world good.
Silviu
Nice nut butters, there! Now why do you have all that weird bolding in your blog post? I keep thinking the bolded text is a link but sadly, it’s not.
Simone
I love homemade nutbutter and it’s easy to do too. We once had a daring cooks challenge to make nutbutter so that’s when I discovered it wasn’t so hard to do. This looks yum!
Rachel
whoa…I need to make this! I do love Nutella but it is excessively sweet. I’d love to taste hazelnut butter in a more stripped-down form! Given that I just heard there’s a peanut shortage it would probably be a good idea to try making my own alternative nut butters.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Once you start making your own, Rachel, you will never go back to store bought. They are incredibly easy to make, if you roast the nuts first, it just fills the entire house with the most delicious aroma, plus, there’s nothing like dipping your spoon in fresh made, warm nut butter. It’s just insanely good!
Cindy
How funny! Every morning I love reading your blog, thank you so much!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Thank you, Cindy! So happy to know that!
marco
I’m trying this this evening, I have a batch of fresh hazelnuts to crack open that needed a tasty recipe, and here it is
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Did you actually crack open the whole bunch of hazelnuts that the recipe calls for? That is A LOT of hazelnuts! My hands would be sooooo sore!
marco
done! added some honey and a little milk to make the cream more soft. Very good indeed, the scent of the nuts was terrific!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Is it not amazing? It just fills up the entire house and makes you feel like it’s Christmas or something! Didn’t the addition of milk make the butter really runny? I find it’s already on the soft side, I’m trying to think of ways to make it creamier, smoother, richer. So you used honey instead of the cane sugar? And it worked great? Oh, I get the feeling I will be revisiting this recipe very, very soon!
Jenny
What have you found to be the shelf life of the hazelnut butter? Also, what’s the best way to store it? I’m sure it won’t last long once opened, but I’m making it as a gift and don’t want to make it too early!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Actually, that batch is still alive, I still have about a quarter of a cup of the plain hazelnut butter left, and it hasn’t gone rancid or anything. I stored it in a mason jar and kept it in the cupboard. I guess if one wanted to prolong that shelf life even more, they could always keep theirs in the fridge. So I say you can go ahead and make your gift whenever you’re ready!
Shannon
I just made this and WOW is it delicious. I used honey as sweetener. Only thing is that it’s not as creamy as I’d have liked, though still spreadable. The only hazelnuts I found already had the skins removed. I didn’t roast them because of this, but now wonder if that would’ve made a difference in the creaminess. I’ll try that next batch. Which there WILL be because holy cow this is incredible. I’m going to have to ration it.
Currently enjoying about 2 tbsp with pear slices. SO good!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Glad to hear you like this, Shannon! Honey as a sweetener must be fantastic. I don’t think that roasting the hazelnuts would make much of a difference in the creaminess, if anything, not having the skin on would’ve made it creamier than my version. Of course, this version having a much higher nut content than Nutella’s (which is probably close to none in their case), you can’t expect it to be as creamy as the original… Besides, what makes Nutella really creamy is the emulsion of pure fat and sugar. Not something I’d call a healthy start to your day!
Anyway, real happy you seem to like this one as much as I do… now you got me craving some, big time! I get the feeling that a new batch will get made in this household pretty soon!
Thanks a bunch for your great feedback, Shannon. I truly appreciate that!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
How do you think this would work as a substitute for Nutella in baking recipes? I want to make Nutella cheesecake squares tomorrow but don’t really feel like going and buying Nutella. Eh, I guess I’ll just make it and let you know how it works. Oh and these pictures are amazing! It looks sooo gooey. I just got some coconut sugar so I’m going to use that instead of honey because I want mine to be like yours.
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
AAAAH! This is so yummy. I’ve made the Smitten Kitchen and David Lebovitz versions of fake Nutella, but this is the best! I have to admit I added another tablespoon of coconut sugar but other than that I followed the directions. Oh and I roasted the hazelnuts for about 15 minutes at a higher temperature because I was in a hurry. And then I used it in Nutella cheesecake squares and it’s great! It’s not as smooth as Nutella would have been, but that’s okay. It still tastes amazing! And even Alex liked the cheesecake, although he was whining about how “dark chocolate” the spread was. I’m so excited! I’m going to make this and the cheesecake again in a few weeks, take pictures and make a post.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
YAYYY! Geez, I didn’t even have time to reply to your previous comment that already, you’ve tested it. You’re too quick for me!
Glad it worked out, though, and real glad you liked my version of home made Nutella. FYI, I’m mentally working on a new and improved version of that, so stay tuned.
And seriously? How can someone ever find chocolate too dark?
I say, the darker, the better! 
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
But how can you possibly improve this? There’s not a lot of sugar, and it’s not powdered sugar which is already a huge improvement over all the over recipes. The cheesecake is already gone. I had a little of this nut butter leftover and that’s gone too. It’s all gone. In two days.
I don’t like dark chocolate (65% is about as high as I can go) but this was not too dark. He’s just a bit stupid about his sweets. BUT! He’s eating healthy fake Nutella cheesecake and I thank you for that.
Have you tried this with other nuts? I’m going to try with almonds. I have 7 types of nut butter in my fridge right now and I don’t even like nuts (other than peanuts). Haha.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Oooooh, is there going to be a cheesecake post on Texanerin Baking soon? I LOOOOOOVE cheesecake. It would be my ultimate favorite dessert in the whole wide world. And cheesecake with healthy Nutella in it? I’m all for that.
Glad to hear you liked this recipe. I want to improve it by making it lighter and creamier! Closer to the real thing, you know. Not that this one wasn’t good. I clearly remember its voice as it was calling my name from the cupboard, and believe me, it was LOUD!
And what? 7 jars of nut butter and you don’t even like nuts? And I thought I was the nut freak? OMG! Can I come to your house now?
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
I have to make the cheesecake recipe healthier, take pictures and then it’ll be on there! But now I want to wait for the lighter version of this spread. Hurry up with it so I can make my post!
If you ever feel like coming to Germany, you and I will eat lots of nut butter and cheesecake. And you’ll be in shock when we go shopping and see only “million percent fat” (haha, sorry, I still think it’s funny!) yogurt. It’s really crazy, though. I keep going to huge organic food stores and not even they have lower fat yogurt. Or they do, but they have very very few options. The rest is 3.5%. And all Greek yogurt is 10%. Booo!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
So you’re saying if I ever go to Germany, I have to be ready to gain at least 10 pounds, is that it?
I still can’t get over the fact that your Greek yogurt is 10% fat. Wow that’s a lot! There should be a law against that! 
And I’m working on it! (that lighter version of the spread, that is) I tried something today, but that’s not quite “it”. I couldn’t really make it exactly like I wanted to because I have too many perishable nut butters to go through now… so I don’t want to create another one just to create it and end up chucking it (although I am really itching to!) But don’t worry… it’s coming! It’s something I very much want to do…
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
I can’t wait to see what you do to make it lighter! I’ve tried some versions with milk, which were smoother, but also full of sugar. I’ll be patient.
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
I just want to say these are really really nice pictures. I’m trying to take pictures of this now and it’s impossible. It’s not very interesting looking and the glare from the jar… my goodness. So good job to you!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Hey thanks, Erin! So very kind of you to say! I really appreciate that! You rock!
Stacy
If you blend the hazelnut butter with the cocoa and other ingredients, will it start to separate? I did something wrong, the oil started to separate and the rest started to become thick like fudge. So I wondered if I blended either too long making the butter or if I blended too long after adding the other ingredients? Thank you.
Sonia! The Healthy Foodie
I’m not sure I undertand your question, Stacy. Do you mean you blended everything together the whole time? As in, you introduced both the cocoa powder and the whole nuts at the same time in your food processor? I’ve never tried it, but I could very well imagine this kind of separation happening if it was the case. When making “flavored” nut butters, you need to turn the nuts into a butter first, and then add the other ingredients and mix just to incorporate, no more.
There has to be a way to save this, though… For startes, I think I’d try throwing it in my mixer and beat the heck out of it. I’d start slow, though, so as to not send oil flying all over the place!
Hope this helps, and real sorry to hear your nut butter misbehaved like that!